Three years ago, leaders from 186 countries gathered in
Rome and made a solemn commitment - to halve the number of
hungry people by the year 2015. Is the world living up to
the promise it made at the 1996 World Food
Summit?

New estimates for 1995/97 show that around 790 million
people in the developing world do not have enough to eat.
This is more than the total populations of North America and
Europe combined. The 'continent' of the hungry includes men,
women and children who may never reach their full physical
and mental potential because they do not have enough to eat
- many of them may even die because they have been denied
the basic human right to food. This state of affairs is
unacceptable.

Yes, the number of undernourished people has decreased by
40 million since 1990/92, the period to which the estimates
of 830 to 840 million cited at the Summit refer. But we
cannot afford to be complacent. A closer look at the data
reveals that in the first half of this decade a group of
only 37 countries achieved reductions totalling 100 million.
Across the rest of the developing world, the number of
hungry people actually increased by almost 60 million. The
current rate of progress - an average reduction of around 8
million a year - falls squarely within the trajectory of
'business as usual'. If the pace is not stepped up, more
than 600 million people will still go to sleep hungry in the
developing countries in 2015. To achieve the Summit goal, a
much faster rate of progress is required, averaging
reductions of at least 20 million a year in the developing
world.

Hunger is often associated with developing countries.
While that is true, this report provides statistical
evidence that the problem is not limited to developing
countries. For the first time, FAO presents aggregate
estimates of the number of undernourished in developed
countries. The resulting figure, 34 million people, confirms
that even developed countries are confronted with the
challenge of overcoming food insecurity. Although many of
these 34 million people live in countries that have been
undergoing major political and economic transition in the
1990s, pockets of hunger are to be found in all parts of the
world.

It is my conviction that there is no reason not to have a
hunger-free world some time in the next century. The world
already produces enough food to feed the people who inhabit
it today. And it could produce more. However, unless
deliberate action is taken at all levels, the chances are
that hunger and malnutrition will continue in the
foreseeable future.

But, before effective action can be taken, we need to
know who the hungry and vulnerable are, where they live, and
why they have not been able to improve their situations. The
numbers are 790 million in developing countries, and 34
million in developed countries, but we must put faces on the
numbers.

Whether it is the victims of civil conflict or herders
who suffer because their pastureland is disappearing,
whether it is the urban poor living on national welfare or
the geographically isolated ethnic minorities, we cannot
forget that they are human beings, with individual needs and
aspirations. In poor villages and neighbourhoods across the
world, the scene is the same: people working from sunrise to
sunset dealing with harsh climates, tired earth and the
effects of fragile economies, labouring constantly to
provide for themselves and their families - striving for
little more than enough food to keep themselves alive.

That is why we must focus not only on abstract global
numbers but on the faces and places that make up those
numbers. In calculations and predictions that use variables
of population growth, output rates, declining resource
bases, political changes, devastation from diseases or the
effects of natural and manmade disasters, we must always
remember that we are talking about people - individuals who,
given the chance, have the potential to make significant
contributions to the world around them. But in order to
reach their potential, they need and deserve a life free
from hunger.

New technologies allow us to link national information
systems and establish global networks, to examine an entire
ocean or one drop of water, to punch buttons and create
graphs and flow charts that show us instantly and clearly
the kind of progress being made. Knowledge not only gives us
power, it gives us insight and direction. With the
establishment of the Food Insecurity and
Vulnerability Information and Mapping Systems (FIVIMS)
initiative, we are expanding our ability to gather, analyse
and share knowledge that can guide future initiatives to
increase access to food for all.

The work of FIVIMS is essential as we enter the new
millennium. We must devise and put into action policies and
programmes to enable governments, international and
non-governmental organizations, communities and individuals
to overcome the obstacles that stand in the way of what
should be a birthright for every one of the 6 000 million
people on this planet - enough to eat. As we have seen, the
progress being made against hunger in the world is uneven.
It is clear that there is no global formula for success. The
success must come from specific actions undertaken and goals
set at the local, national and regional levels, where
individuals will be able to see the impact of their
involvement.

In the absence of new investment and policy efforts at
all levels, current technological and socio-economic trends
are likely to continue. The number of undernourished people
may continue to decline ... but only slowly and only in some
regions of the world. Deliberate and targeted measures and
new investments are fundamental to improve the trend.

The reduction to 790 million hungry people in the
developing countries is a beginning. Our stated goal is to
reduce that number, at the minimum, to around 400 million by
2015, as well as to reduce by half or more the number of 34
million hungry in developed countries. But as we work
towards the goal, we must remain aware that we cannot stop
when we reach it. Because, even that number is far too big.
Even one hungry person is one too many.